I'm Back!

 As usual, I have been remiss. So I'm going to start with 'old' photos which also helps refresh my memory as to what I have been up to. 

On June 30th, I was dog sitting for Brownie while his people took a weekend jaunt to Canada. They picked a great time to head north because it was getting pretty warm. This is Brownie as he's coming back into their house after an outside break.

This, however, was his favorite occupation (and position).

Farah, being the sweet person that she is, gave me a lovely bouquet of lilies to thank me. The thanks was unnecessary, but appreciated.

At this point, I had begun staining my new planter which Jon put together. He did a great job with the million pieces.

Meanwhile ...

I have 3 of these muelin (above). They are now taller than I am. And I am told they only bloom once every two years. I'm wondering if I should cut them down. They sure are weird.

Meanwhile, the daisies went nuts and spewed all over.

Here is a more recent photo of the planter. The lilies on each end have shed their petals. The center is tall phlox. I'm collecting those seeds. Speaking of seeds, I had planted sunflower seeds in pots. The %$#! chipmunk dug them up and ate them.

Sunday, July 10th was ice cream day. Flayvors which is about a mile from my house, has a nice no sugar added raspberry swirl. I also got to say hello to the girls. Everyone else was eating while Bessie here was enjoying the cool earth.

Which brings me to July 14th in Cape Charles, VA (CC). Below is the jon boat (I have no idea how that's spelled) that we took out to go fishing. The big boat was having battery problems.

I was less than graceful when trying to exit the boat and started laughing. While it was good to laugh, it didn't help me get off the boat!

Motoring out to a good fishing site.

There were no fish. David and Jane's grandchildren (very small children) had caught them all the week before. So we declared victory and pulled up anchor. David had vowed to get us some mussels.

This is the first 'beach' that we investigated.

David would gun the motor and beach the boat. It was exciting.

Yes, all of those holes in the mud belong to fiddler crabs which are about the size of a half dollar.

It was a lovely day.

David told me that the big yellow claw means it's a male. They wave their big claws around to attract a female and to fight off other males. He said the females only want to see their wallet. Since he was my ride home I did not smack him up the side of his head.

Boat art:

Crepe Myrtles

Hydrangea in front of the volunteer fire dept. in Cape Charles.

More crepe myrtle

Persimmon in progress growing in the median in front of Jane's beach house.

Jane's flowers -- some are five feet tall!

Another day, we took the dogs dock diving. Audrey, the bitch, and Ajax, the dog, LOVE to jump off the dock and retrieve. David has made a "GET IT" which consists of pvc pipe filled with insulation which turns hard. Both ends are sealed and the whole toy is about 18 inches long.

I tried to share a link to videos of the dogs splashing around. At one point you will see 3 labs. A new friend, Wally, joined them. He was just learning how to dock dive. His daddy had to throw him in.

The Cowans became hooked on Longmire on Netflix. All in all we had a really fun time in Cape Charles, VA.  Oh, yes, I got gasoline for $4.23 as I was leaving Cape Charles. It was more at home.

I hope you are having a fun summer too!